The following is a true story, only the names have been changed to protect the foolish.
Steve and I worked together for several years and several different employers. On one of our jobs we hauled junk cars for a late model automotive recycler. The pay was okay and we never worried about having reliable transportation as good used cars and parts were cheap to employees. Those were the sort of perks that came with the job.
Even the man who owned the company drove a car that had once been salvage. Of course his salvaged car was a three month old Sedan De Ville by Cadillac. One morning while the boss was in his office-- before most of the other employees except for us drivers had arrived-- I handed Steve a turn-signal flasher I had ordered from the J.C. Whitney Automotive Mail Order Catalog. “What’s this for?” Steve asked as he looked at the unusually large turn signal flasher.
“It’s a turn signal flasher, Dummy.”
“I know what it is,” Steve replied. “What do you want me to do with it, Dummy?”
“Go put it in the bosses’ car,” I replied. “I’ll make sure he stays in the office.”
“What for?” Steve asked.
“It's musical. It plays Love Me Tender when you turn on the signal,” I replied, my grin giving away the joke I was putting Steve up to.
“You mean like Elvis?” Steve laughed. “You’re shittin’ me...” Steve put the flasher in the socket under the dash of the bosses’ Caddy while I walked inside the boss’ office to ask him some questions to which I already knew the answers.
A few days later the boss asked Steve to drive the Caddy around back so that the shop foreman could take a look at it. “Is something wrong with it?” Steve asked.
“Oh no,” the boss replied. “I just like making sure everything is in good working order before I go out of town.” Steve drove the car to the shop where we had already clued the shop foreman in on the joke. Later that same day we were both washing our trucks when the boss came to pick up his car. Steve, the shop foreman, and I watched as the boss drove away.
It only took about three minutes before the boss came wheeling into the driveway. “Something wrong?” the foreman asked.
“I hate Elvis!” the boss shouted as he turned and walked away. “Billy, I’m driving your truck home tonight. I want my Cadillac fixed before the three of you go home tonight.
“I guess we’ll need this,” Steve said holding the proper turn signal flasher in his hand. “How much overtime you think we can make out of this?” he said as the entire shop crew burst into laughter. The boss didn’t say a word. We both knew he’d pay us back, we looked forward to the challenge.
